Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Solution to closed Virginia rest areas



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i find it odd you would be against the closing of rest areas... this is cutting spending which is what conservatives want, right?

Charles said...

Conservatives want government to do ONLY the tasks that government is responsible for, and to do them well.

The highway system is the type of thing that is more likely to fit as a government function, since no private entity could reasonably operate anything but particular point-to-point highly-travelled roads.

Providing rest areas along that highway is something ONLY the government can do, either directly or by allowing private business to do so.

Right now, the laws prohibit the state from allowing private contractors to operate in the rest areas, and the laws prohibit private businesses to set up rest areas along the interstate.

So when Kaine decides to spend millions building a conference-center-sized rest stop, and to spend millions on flowers along the roads in the middle of the state where traffic is light, and millions on walls to lower the traffic sounds heard by largely democratic constituents living in expensive houses along the beltway, but then cuts off one of the most visible and direct operations the state provides to citizens, you have to ask "what is wrong with his priorities".

And if you read his response to Congressman Wolf's plea to keep the rest stops open, you see exactly where Kaine's priorities are. They are with his job as DNC chair. He closed the rest stops so he could blame the republicans in the house.

Big-Government liberals, when they can't have every dime they want, always respond by cutting the programs that most directly impact voters, holding them hostage to pry more tax dollars out of their pockets.

I think we pay enough in gas and other taxes that we can have reasonable roads AND have rest stops.